William "Bill" Auvergne Clayton

William Auvergne “Bill” Clayton, of San Antonio, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, November 3, 2018, at age 75. PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE IN THE LOCATION OF VISITATION AND FUNERAL SERVICE TO GROESBECK FUNERAL HOME CHAPEL (1215 E. Yeagua, Groesbeck, TX.)  Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2018, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel. The funeral service will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 10, in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel, with Reverend Bill Sutton officiating.   Burial will follow in Cox Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Gilbert Villalobos, Jr., Joseph Villalobos, and Gage Priddy. Bill was born February 17, 1943 in Tupelo, Mississippi to Leonard A. Clayton and Erin Carolyn Peery Clayton.    In his family of five siblings, including a twin brother, his “French” middle name of Auvergne was passed down to him from his mother’s family.     He grew up in Tupelo through junior high school, and then graduated from Hattiesburg, MS in 1961. Bill immediately joined the U.S. Navy after graduation, serving during the Viet Nam era, and continued with a military career for twenty-two years, until retiring in 1983.    He was a Chief Photographers’ Mate.   He greatly loved all his travel on the ships, and saw most of the world.  His favorite photographs were of the flowers he saw at all the foreign locations. After Bill retired from the Navy, he worked at Delk Photography Studio in Tyler until his final retirement there in 2005.   While photographing at the Rose Festival in Tyler,  or on location all over Texas, his formal dress attire was a tuxedo and cowboy boots.   He rubbed shoulders with many of the great and powerful of Texas, and loved every minute of his work.   He was able to charm great smiles of those he was photographing with his personality and sheer genius, and had  a lovely smile and was photogenic himself.  Bill was an astute genealogist.   He researched the Clayton and Peery and Callahan families, tracing the Clayton family – with proof – back to Pocohantas, the Peery family through fighting in the Spanish-American war and the Callahan family with 3 members who went after Daniel Boone’s daughter when she was kidnapped.    He maintained a website and wrote two family genealogy books from his amazing research. He looked forward to going back to Mississippi every year for his family reunion and the 5-year class reunions.  Bill never met a stranger, and people loved him, based on his great personality, wonderful nature, clever sense of humor and wit.   Even babies loved him.   He did not want to let go of life, battling illnesses since 2007, until his last breath.  He will be greatly missed by his wife, family and friends.   Bill was preceded in death by his father, L.A.”Chick” Clayton; mother, Carolyn Clayton (both of Hattiesburg, MS); sister, Mimi Parish of Forest, MS; sister, Kay Bobo of Memphis, TN; and brother, Buster Clayton of Laurel, MS. He is survived by his wife, Sharon (Deen) Clayton of San Antonio; step daughter, Angelina Lopez of Jacksonville, FL; step-daughter, Amy Doroy of Oxnard, CA; step-daughter, Marilou Doroy of Jacksonville, FL; step-children, Anna Villalobos, Gilbert Villalobos, Jr., Patricia Ann Allison, and Joseph Villalobos; many grandchildren and great grandchildren;  sister, Lynda Littlejohn of Saltillo, MS; Bill’s twin brother, Alec Clayton and his wife Gabi of Olympia, WA; and numerous  nieces, and nephews.